Dear Readers:
If you stop to think about it, our lives are constantly in translation. Whether it's the literal translation of a story, a clash of cultures, or the experience of seeing something from a fresh perspective, translation hides in the nuances of each of our days.
This Issue's pages capture worlds of translation through fiction, nonfiction, art, and poetry, from places as far-reaching as Australia, Japan, and Puerto Rico, to our own Brooklyn streets. Dozens of new voices share their visions of translation, and they pop up in the most unexpected places, whether it is merging cultures through marriage, breaking the rules of traditional Japanese calligraphy, or the evolution of a child's view of the devil, just to name a few.
We also spoke with some today's literary legends about translation, and their responses were thought-provoking, insightful, and often quite surprising. Salman Rushdie blurs the lines between east and west. Kathryn Harrison explores the creative process of translating memories onto the page. Nam Le travels the world, changes careers, and redefines what it means to write fiction and nonfiction. Andrew Sean Greer describes love as a translating act in an Instant Message interview, while ordering shower curtains at the same time.
We hope you find these interpretations of our theme as evocative as we do. We'd also like to say a very big cheers to all, as we're celebrating our first anniversary with Issue 3. Thank you for your enthusiasm and support!
The Editors